Biometric power actuated security drawer

ABSTRACT

A security drawer for storing personal property.

PRIORITY/CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority date of the provisional application entitled BIOMETRIC POWER ACTUATED SECURITY DRAWER filed on Sep. 28, 2008 with application Ser. No. 61/100,745, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Personal safes, vaults and pistol safes are currently and have been available in many shapes and sizes for hundreds of years and have typically included a hinged door for access in the case of a vault or safe and a lid in the case of a pistol safe or personal lock box as the general preferred embodiment. In citing state of the art products currently on the market which seek to achieve the same purpose such as the “BIOVAULT 2.0 Fingerprint Safe” which is essentially a lockbox/pistol safe with biometric access technology. When activated via touch pad that verifies the owners fingerprint, hinged double lid style doors pop open utilizing a spring mechanism thus allowing access to the items therein. The disadvantage with this product and many like it is the difficulty of concealment of the box itself because of necessity of exposure for operation of the door or lid. Specifically the lockbox and pistol safe products are typically surface mounted which leaves them in plain sight, and this tends to invite tampering and theft. Additionally, there are products on the market that claim to be “drawer safes” but upon closer examination they are found to be a simple lid-style lock box that is then mounted into an existing cabinet drawer so that concealment is attainable, but the process of retrieving valuables or firearms is complicated by adding an additional step. This is especially true when time is of the essence. Additionally, the security factor of a drawer safe is compromised when the entire drawer can be quickly removed without tools from the cabinet in which it is housed. In the case of a lock being placed on the drawer front to thwart theft or tampering, the quick accessibility factor is further complicated by yet one more additional step, especially in the case of home defense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Considered broadly, similar two-part boxes actuated open from a closed locked position by energy with linear motion are of the cash register type. This invention is similarly housed with three main parts, the first being the main housing, a rectangular box with one side open, and the second being the drawer which inserts into the main housing via drawer glides providing alignment and full-extension linear motion. The third main part is the central component housing which aligns, adapts and connects the drawer, most advantageously with an opening in the back of the drawer. The central component housing, which can be a several-part injection molded box although numerous other constructions are possible, serves as a multi-function center vital to the operation of the invention as a whole. The opening in the back of the drawer is adapted for a dual linear slide push bar built into the central component housing which provides propulsion for the device and makes contact with the back wall of the main drawer housing under spring pressure while the drawer is in the closed and locked position. Also installed in the central component housing is a means for unlocking the drawer, most advantageously an electronic receiver which picks up a signal emitted from a wireless biometric device activated by its owner outside of the drawer, although certainly other means can be seen to be readily adaptable. This signal activates a means for retracting the lock mechanism such as a solenoid, most advantageously located on the top of the component housing, from a tab mounted on the ceiling of the main drawer housing, which then frees the drawer to quickly propel itself out via spring actuation or other similar means of propulsion to full extension of the drawer glides; optionally and advantageously, a second set of similarly-aligned dual linear actuators with shock and spring, or other soft-stopping means, mounted on top of the component housing take over, acting as brakes to bring the drawer and its contents to a soft stop. The device is closed manually. With the drawer at full extension and in a final, stopped position, a quick release, advantageously a button on the roof of the main housing or in the central component housing, releases the entire drawer from the main housing. Additionally, there is a battery compartment to power the solenoid, advantageously located in the component housing. Advantageously, this device is modular, self contained without exterior power needs and can be mounted virtually anywhere. The biometric touch pad is wireless and is programmable with multiple fingerprint scan memory. For the purpose of stealth, a face plate can be mounted to the drawer front of any kind of material so as to blend in flush with its surroundings to maximize concealment and to thwart tampering.

Additionally, for transportation purposes the drawer can be entirely removed from the housing, advantageously with the aid of a quick-release fitting, and be optionally fitted with a cover for the open side of the drawer, so that its contents can be retained regardless of how the drawer is oriented once it is removed from the housing. In a further variation, a briefcase or security courier case or other portable receptacle could be adapted to accept and lock the drawer in the same way as the housing does, for added security and/or concealment during transportation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a ¾ elevational view of the invention fully assembled with drawer fully extended.

FIG. 2A is a ¾ rear elevational view of the central component housing.

FIG. 2B is a transparent side elevational view of the central component housing.

FIG. 3 shows parts that make up the central component housing.

FIG. 4A is a ¾ elevational schematic of the quick release function.

FIG. 4B is a ¾ schematic of the upper twin clasp assembly.

FIG. 5A is a section view A-A, a side elevational view of the central component housing.

FIG. 5B is a section view B-B, a rear elevational view of the central component housing.

FIG. 6 is a ¾ elevational view with parts deleted for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the central component housing and upper actuator assembly with the active drawer body in the open position.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the active drawer body in closed position with the roof of the main housing deleted for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 9 is a ¾ schematic of the central component housing in open position with parts deleted for clarity.

FIG. 10 is a rear elevational view of the central component housing and active drawer body with parts deleted for clarity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention illustrated, as seen in FIG. 1, the device is comprised of a main drawer housing (1), active drawer body (2), drawer glides (4), and central component housing (3) mounted with fasteners to the active drawer body (2), in FIG. 6 showing adaptation to a rear opening (5) in the active drawer body (2) serving as a through way for the linear motion push bar assembly (6), shown fully extended. The housing (1) and drawer (2) are stamped and break pressed fourteen gauge steel sections, including the drawer front (7), and have through holes for side mount option (8) and under mount option (9). Through holes (10) are to permit the mounting on the drawer front (7) of any building material for the purpose of blending in with surroundings where the invention is mounted, e.g., mounting the device in a desk or chest of drawers with a drawer-front matching the woodwork of the surrounding furniture. The central component housing (3) is comprised of three main parts shown in FIG. 3: a lower central component housing base (12) is advantageously formed by injection molding from suitable ABS or glass fiber-reinforced polyester composition or a blend thereof and is essentially a box with identical twin elongated U-shaped inwardly projecting ports (21) serving as rails for the spring powered linear push bar (6). Battery compartments (14) each house two batteries of the lithium ion type, stepping back on each side respectively, to power the solenoid lock retracting mechanism (15) which, when activated via a wireless biometric device (16), frees the drawer body (2) to be propelled by compressed springs housed in spring ports (22) via linear push bar (6) along drawer glide rails (4). The drawer's (2) travel is arrested by the mating of upper twin posts (17) of the upper linear actuator assembly (13) with a twin clasp mechanism (18), mounted on the roof of main drawer housing (1) shown in FIG. 4B. Twin posts (17) have a pivot means and pivot so as to smoothly lock into the female twin clasp assembly (18). The upper actuator assembly is also supplied at its leading edge with a fastener (19) which mates with the female twin clasp assembly (17) and has a quick release function to permit removal of the entire drawer body (2) from the main housing (1) for purpose of initial installation or transport to another similar housing. Once the upper linear actuator assembly (13) mates with the upper twin clasp assembly (18, in FIG. 4B), this serves to bring the drawer body to a soft stop where shocks (20) damp speed in tandem with springs (13), drawing the drawer body (2) slowly to full extension of the drawer glides (4). FIG. 5B shows section view B-B of the entire central component housing fully assembled, and notably the spring powered linear push bar twin U-shape ports (21) and twin spring ports (22) and quad battery ports (14), along with the solenoid lock retracting mechanism (15).

Once fully extended, the active drawer body (2) is manually closed, which then releases the twin posts (17) by pivoting from upper twin clasp assembly (18) back along the drawer glides (4) where the linear push bar (6) engages the back wall of main drawer housing (1) then retracting push bar under spring compression nearly flush to the back of the active drawer body (2) and re-engaging the lock assembly (15) under spring compression to the upper ceiling tab (23). Included with this invention will be an AC adapter plug (FIG. 1, item 26) and note the jack location (25) in rear of main drawer housing for said adapter.

It is readily understood by those skilled in the art that many of the specifics mentioned in this description—the twin clasp fastener (19), double dual battery holders (14), spring compression ejection of the drawer, etc.—are merely conveniences or happenstances of the inventor's development process, and that the functions they serve can be accomplished in a variety of other ways, an exhaustive reference to which therefore need not be made herein.

In broad terms, anyone skilled in the art could replicate the functions of this device with other power and guide means and or materials whilst using a biometric device or other “key” means to send a wired or wireless transmission for access. Broadly speaking, this particular invention has the advantageous and unique configurations (mentioned fore and aft) of a disguisable lockbox opening with linearity along with the advantage of endless mounting possibilities with stealth and under its own power. The mentioned unique blend of function and purpose in their configuration are currently found nowhere on the market, nor in the current art. 

1. A security drawer for storing personal property comprising: a main housing, said main housing forming a rectangular box with a top, a bottom, two sides, a back end, and an open front end, said main housing configured for secure attachment to a surface, said main housing further comprises guides for slideable engagement with a drawer; said drawer forming a rectangular box having an open top, a bottom, two sides, a back end, and a front end, drawer configured for slideable engagement with said guides in said main housing, said drawer configured to move between two positions, two said positions are latched and open; a central component housing for secure mounting to said back of said drawer, said central component housing further comprising at least one battery compartment, a releasable latching mechanism configured to latch said drawer into said latched position in said main housing when said releasable latching mechanism is not activated, said releasable latching mechanism further configured to release said drawer from said main housing when activated by a wireless device, and at least one push bar biased to urge said drawer out of said main housing when said latching mechanism is activated, said battery operationally connected to said releasable latching mechanism; and a wireless device for activating said releasable latching mechanism, said wireless device comprising a programmable biometric fingerprint reader; said wireless device configured to activate releasable latching mechanism when said wireless device is a presented a programmed finger print; said drawer is configured to be manually pressed into said main housing against said push bar urging said drawer out of said main housing until said latching mechanism releasably latches said drawer in said latched position in said main housing, said drawer remaining latched in said main housing until said wireless device is presented said programmed finger print and said wireless device activates said releasable latching mechanism and said push bar urges said drawer out of said main housing towards said open position. 